The weather is getting colder, and soon Jack Frost will be nipping at your nose. While this time of year is great for hot chocolate and sweaters, it can get harder and harder to stay active outside the gym without shivering once you’ve broken a sweat.
Fortunately, staying fit in colder weather isn’t as difficult as it seems. So before you consider liposuction for those last 10 to 20 pounds, here are a few ways you can stay active even when the falling leaves turn into flakes.
Use indoor stairs to your advantage
Once the snow starts to fall and the sidewalks get slick, it can be difficult to even walk up outdoor stairs let alone jog on them. If you have stairs in your home or apartment building, consider using them to your advantage for a high-intensity cardio and leg workout.
You can also use stairs for an interval workout. For instance, work out on the stairs for a few floors in a building before taking a walk down the length of a hallway and then resume your ascent or descent.
Do yoga for fitness
Not everyone is able to do high-impact workouts or take the stairs. Whether you’re living with a disability, suffer from arthritis, or you’ve had a hip replacement (which takes up to 6 weeks to recover from), low-impact work-outs are a great way to stay fit not only during the colder months but year-round.
Yoga is one of those low-impact workouts that you can tailor to be more for fitness than for flexibility. All you need is a mat and a space in your living room and you’re good to go.
Join an indoor sports team
Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia may be the only five U.S. cities with all four major sports, but you can find team sports or individual sports programs no matter where you live. Competition levels for indoor sorts typically range anywhere from recreational to expert.
The most cost-effective indoor sports programs are run by local communities at a community center or local school where people can drop by for floor hockey or basketball.
Take up ice-skating
Ice skating is a great aerobic workout that can be as social or independent as you want it to be. You don’t need to be able to do a triple axel to get a good workout out of it, either.
Ice skating lets you use your muscles in different ways compared to your usual running routine. And once the weather gets warmer, you can pick it back up with rollerblading.
Just be sure to wear the proper eye protection if you do ice skating outdoors on in a designated area. Fresh snow reflects up to 80% of UV radiation from the sun and it can do more harm to your eyes than you’d think.
It can be challenging to stay active outside the gym once the weather starts to cool off. But by following the tips above, you can stay fit year-round even without a gym membership.
1 comment
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